HOMECOMING
Mixed Reality Performance
by Choreographer Georgia Tegou & Visual Artist Kristina Pulejkova
Commissioned by The Place
Supported by The Lowry, FACT Liverpool and Dance East
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England
Accessibility Partners: Candoco Dance Company
Initial research supported by
Choreodrome Residency at The Place and Light Moves Festival of Screendance - Studio Light Moves
APRIL 1st 2025, THE LOWRY SALFORD
AUGUST 2025 TBC, FACT LIVERPOOL
31st OCTOBER, 1st NOVEMBER, THE PLACE LONDON
Participation Partners SPACE Studios, Beacon Academy Trust - Beal High School, The Place, ProDance Oxford, Bath Spa University
PRESS THE BUTTON BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE VR-AR AND DANCE WORKSHOP
LETTERS OF SUPPORT
Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost!
Pina Bausch
Homecoming is an interactive mixed-reality performance tracing the journey of a ghost trying to reclaim its body. Audiences are invited to go through three stages of embodiment, using live dance and technology.
The innovative performance uses live dance, holographic projections and virtual reality. We are employing the newly developed InteractML machine learning tool to create an accessible interactive dance theatre and immersive experience where the audience becomes the protagonist. By using gesture-based triggers, the audience becomes the dancer, unlocking a story through their movement. Told through the voice of ‘The Watcher’ an eternal being, the story unfolds, inviting audiences to revisit Lena Arbori’s memories through her eyes, learning about Lena’s heartbreaks, hardships and deepest desires. The only way to help Lena jump back into her body is to dance, dance, dance!
The piece delves into the concept of female burnout, portraying the societal expectation for women to juggle multiple roles simultaneously, mother, wife, cook, lover, successful professional, businesswoman, leader, friend, daughter, sister. Pina Bausch and Louise Bourjois are strong influences in the formation of our main character, Lena, who metaphorically becomes a ghost in the story.
We first started imagining this woman living in a restaurant in a forest after reading Pina Bausch's biography and thinking of her growing up in her parents’ guest house in Germany. We imagined Lena as a fiery character having Pina's passion and dreams for life. In the late 40's sculptor Louise Bourjois, then in her thirties with a successful career and three young sons, made a series of works she called 'femme-maison', 'housewife' or literally 'woman house'. Each one depicted a building merged, like a mythical beast, with a nude female torso and legs, as if the house had taken over the woman's mind and left her body exposed.
Lena represents the 'woman-house’ in our story. She is a mother and a cook at a family restaurant living in the 1950s somewhere in the Black Forest. She goes through three major heartbreaks and detaches from her body but she’s not dead, she still has a choice to continue living.
The next video features images of fire
Information:
After succesfully completing our R&D we aim to secure more partnerships and funding for the full production. We plan to apply for Arts Council Funding in January and we are looking for co-commissioning partners and performance opportunities from 2024 and beyond as well as for workshop/public engagement opportunities (visit the link above the video for more details on the ‘AR-VR and movement’ project affiliated workshop).
The final work will be a hybrid event, consisting of an XR Live Dance Performance and an Audiovisual Virtual Reality Installation, two sibling events happening in two different spaces, a theatre and a studio. The two events will act as complementary to each other but can also make sense separately. The audience will be able to opt for a combined or a single experience ticket. The Audiovisual Virtual Reality Installation will act as a premium to the Live Performance.
The project can become modular. For example, a venue might be interested in staging both the stage performance and the installation, they might opt for the live stage performance with a few VR headsets in the foyer, or the immersive VR installation only. It might also be that the two events run in a theatre and a studio of the same organisation, or that a theatre might be interested in partnering with a gallery/visual arts organisation and run the performance in the theatre and the installation in the gallery, which might spark some partnerships for organisations and unlock some funding for them too.
XR Live Dance Performance - Theatre Space (1 hour)
The ghost idea was born when we were experimenting with VR. It triggered us to develop Lena’s story which will unfold on stage as a mixed reality live dance theatre performance. During our R&D we had two weeks in the studio where we developed choreographic material for the ghost’s memories. We use holographic technology and reactive stage design to create an otherworldly space for our story.
The live performance follows a first-person approach. ‘The Watcher’ welcomes the audience members to experience the life story of Lena Arbori from a protagonist’s perspective. A physical dance theatre piece with a strong visual design, using live dance and immersive holographic projection mapping.
Video playlist of the five memory scenes (The Party, The Love Triangle, The Fight, The Letter, The Fire)
We are working with awarded composer and multi-instrumentalist Vincent Cavanagh (The Radicant, Anathema, BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio2, London Session Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Bulgarian National Philarmonic Orchestra, Sonar Barcelona). We are also working with highly acclaimed costume designer Justin Smith / J Smith Esquire, working in fashion and film (Angelina Jolie, Emma Thompson, Robert Downey Jr, Gillian Anderson, Amal Clooney, Star Wars, Moschino, Stella McCartney, V&A, New York FIT) and digital magicians Uncharted Limbo Collective (Alexander Whitley Dance Company, MET, Nike) and VR Animator LimboTech. We are in conversation with brilliant lighting designer Jackie Shemesh for the full production.
The project started with Choreodrome at The Place and the Studio Light Moves Open Futures in Dance Limerick Residencies where we first developed the idea for a VR experience. We focused on understanding how to incorporate movement and visual triggers to create a rewarding and accessible experience for people with diverse backgrounds and physical abilities. After these residencies, we received an R&D commission from The Place and a Development Award from Open Futures. We've also engaged with the world-renowned Candoco Dance Company, who are supporting us with accessibility consultancy. Three of their collaborating dance artists are part of our cast, and our partnership with Candoco will continue into the production phase.
Installation (AV+VR) - Studio space (45 minutes)
Groups are invited to explore the story of the ghost Lena by walking through a maze-like installation made of holographic projections. They follow the voice of the ‘Watcher’, an eternal being, projected as a glowing orb, who informs them they are a ghost in search of its own body.
The Welcome video which will be projected on the holographic gauzes labyrinth - Walking journey
R&D Sharing
VR experience follows, where the user becomes the dancer and unlocks the story using movement. ‘The Watcher’ through narration tells them they are trapped in a desert-like, chaotic world, where time has stopped. To escape this world, they need to move and unlock five keys that propel them towards their body, and back to reality. The keys look like hieroglyphic sculptures and act as score-directing movement. Each key unlocks one of Lena Arbori’s memories, the main protagonist the audiences are embodying. Filmed in 360 VR with dancers, the memories show why she was detached from her body. The audience discovers step by step how she got there, and finally helps her to reclaim her body. Ends with the ghost jumping back into its body, set in a calm forest-like environment.
VR Experience prototype - headset export video
This is a pilot version, you might notice some blurry moments in the videos which need to be refilmed in our next phase of development.
The experience continues with a dinner in the forest where the audience is invited to sit around the table, dine and experience the final part of the immersive experience.
R&D Sharing
R&D Forest Projections
Concept, Direction, Choreography, Visuals
GEORGIA TEGOU & KRISTINA PULEJKOVA
Music Composition & Sound Design
VINCENT CAVANAGH / THE RADICANT
Costume Designer
JUSTIN SMITH / JSMITH ESQUIRE
Performers
SUSANNA DYE, NATHAN GOODMAN, KIMBERLEY HARVEY, SYNNE LUNDESGAARD, PAULINA PORWOLLIK, JOSHUA JAMES SMITH
Lighting Designer
JACKIE SHEMESH (TBC)
Creative Coders and Visual Artists for the VR experience
UNCHARTED LIMBO COLLECTIVE
VR Animation
DAVE NORTON / LIMBOTECH
VR Consultant and Interact Machine Learning Researcher and Developer
CLARICE HILTON
Producing Consultant
LIA PRENTAKI
Creative Producer
LINDA PETERKOPA
Accessibility Partners
CANDOCO DANCE COMPANY
R&D Project Photography
NIKOLAS LOUKA
